


Wanna Bet?

by sobdasha



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Akito had a kid in the same age range as Tohru, Akito having to do a playdate with Aya and Saki, Akito trying too hard to be a good mom but also failing, F/M, I don't know why this became a Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gambit but it did, Post-Canon, Spoilers, but also in the same age range as Ayame and Saki, but hey her heart is in the right place, if i just tag everything i ever write as spoilers that's safe right, pre-Fruits Basket Another, rookie mistake Akito
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26624956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sobdasha/pseuds/sobdasha
Summary: "You know," Shigure says, very casually slipping a bookmark into the pages of his novel before he pokes the bear, "I think it's high timeyoutook Shiki on a play date."With Rio and Chizuru and, therefore, Ayame and Saki. "Hah," says Akito. "I don'tdoplay dates."[Well, it turns out Akito is wrong about a lot of things this week. And right about the rest in the worst way possible.]
Relationships: Sohma Akito/Sohma Shigure
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	Wanna Bet?

**Author's Note:**

> **me, constantly:** "I'm so done with Shigure's shit and I hate that my being so done with his shit means I keep talking about him on my Tumblr, and when I think about AkiGure I think about that bonus comic where Takaya says '...are you sure you're really happy with Shigure, Akki? Sometimes, I feel a bit bad--'"  
>  **me, today apparently:** "well shit I guess I wrote AkiGure sap??????"
> 
> Tumblr prompt from Katia_chan: _Akito and Shigure and "Wanna bet?"_

"You know," Shigure says, very casually slipping a bookmark into the pages of his novel before he pokes the bear, "I think it's high time _you_ took Shiki on a play date."

With Rio and Chizuru and, therefore, Ayame and Saki. "Hah," says Akito. "I don't _do_ play dates."

Akito is the head of the family. Play dates are not her _job_. That is a perk, and honestly she ought to be getting more perks.

"The weather's nice lately." Shigure flips a page, settles his bookmark in again. "It's still cool, for now. And Shiki's small, but he's not going to stay small for much longer. You'll regret missing out one day."

He slides that last one in like a needle, and Akito stiffens. She's not Tohru, sure, but no one besides Tohru is Tohru. Akito's _not_ a negligent mother. She spends plenty of time with her son at home, where Ayame and Saki are decidedly less present. They have meals together as a family more often than not. There are bedtime stories, there are weird children's TV shows. There aren't really any family game nights because both of Shiki's parents are terrible losers and even worse winners, but it's a _good_ thing they know this about themselves!

"My job is _important_ ," Akito says. "Something only I can do. _Your_ job is to handle the play dates so I don't have to waste my time."

Shigure chuckles. "Oh, really?"

Akito grabs his book and slaps it down on the futon, but she doesn't actually throw it and the bookmark was nestled firmly into the spine so Shigure won't have to hunt down his place again. Nice.

"I love Shiki!" she hisses. "And I spend all my time trying to manage and deal with this clusterfuck of a family _because_ I love Shiki! I'm _trying_ to keep him from getting screwed over the way all the rest of us were!"

"I know that," Shigure chuckles again. Smoothing her hair back out of her face with his now-free hand. "What I meant was, wanna bet?"

At her look, he elaborates, "Would it _really_ be that much of a waste? Do you want to bet? And don't tell me you can't leave the running of the family to someone else for a few days; you have plenty of people here who are more than happy to support you. Let's see, there's Kazuma, and Momiji's getting quite a bit of clout these days, and Yuki isn't entirely useless…"

Shigure feigns a look of surprise, putting a hand to his mouth in that way that always makes Akito want to punch him. She refrains, though. "Oh! And there's also your husband who loves you and loves yanking strings and seeing that this whole damn family gets what's coming to it, namely, being dragged kicking and screaming into a change for the better! And what do you know, he's actually your _assistant_ and knows how to do all of these important paperwork things! Maybe you should let him assist!"

He's not exactly wrong. Akito hates that, so she just crosses her arms and scowls at the blankets.

"I still think we should make it a bet, just to make it interesting," Shigure says. He picks up his book and lays it aside, then shifts under the covers invitingly. "And so we know whether or not you're right. Let's switch jobs for a few days, and each day we'll exchange the most valuable thing we gained. Sound fair?"

It sounds like a trap. It sounds like a very reasonable trap. Shigure's going to come out of this looking like a wise, mature adult, and Akito's going to come out of this looking like a stupid spoiled child, and it's a trap.

But he looks right into her eyes, and smiles at her, and Akito's always been so gullible so she just snuggles up next to him anyway.

–

Apparently, the Mosca family watches cooking competition shows together.

Akito, sitting on the very edge of the park bench, as far as possible from Saki and Ayame without provoking them to hunt her down, misses the whole explanation about today's cooking challenge. She misses the assembly of ingredients, the drama of the kitchen, the flurry of Rio and Chizuru and Shiki putting together their dishes. She misses the explanation Rio gives of what he's concocted and why it's best and deserves to win.

What Akito is unable to miss, unfortunately, is the portion of muddy sand and small pebbles and bits of stick and leaf and grass and what is that even that Rio hands "Judge Auntie Aa-chan" to appraise.

Further down the bench, Rio's mother and Ayame are gushing in praise of the dish's plating, its piquant aroma, the dedication of the chef, the inclusion of actual vegetable matter, and overflowing with gratitude to be able to take part in this rare delicacy.

Akito, mother of the year, says automatically as Rio finagles the plastic dish into her hands: "This looks disgusting."

Rio leans up to her, deadly serious, and whispers near her face, " _It is_."

Akito is never going to understand children in her entire life.

–

"Here," Akito says, shoving the cheap plastic dish at Shigure. Rio let her borrow it on the condition she'd wash it and bring it back tomorrow. She also got him to explain exactly what exotic foreign dish he'd made, although she didn't really understand and she definitely mangles it now as she tells Shigure just what a fricken priceless treat he's in for. "So I saved you some."

"This certainly doesn't look like something you could get at any old restaurant. A very exclusive dish. Please pass my compliments on to the chef," Shigure says. He reaches down and ruffles Shiki's hair, precisely because Shiki doesn't like that and wrinkles up his nose and squints at his father whenever it happens. "What about you, kiddo? What'd you make?"

"Sand," says Shiki. "It was yucky."

"Well," Shigure says. "I suppose this one-of-a-kind treat is your half of the bet, am I right? Then it's time for me to give you what I earned today."

Akito's feeling pretty confident about this, despite her misgivings. She went on the play date, watched her son dig around in the park, subjected herself to Ayame and Saki's attentions, and all she's got to show for it is a handful of nasty organic things in a cheap toy bowl. Shigure's absolutely dealt with a lot more valuable things today.

And then Shigure leans in and kisses Akito's cheek.

–

Akito forgets to slide down to the end of the park bench, as absorbed as she is in googling on her phone "how to tell if your husband is cheating on you with the maids." And, upon further thought, "how to tell if your husband isn't really cheating on you but the maids are flirting with him because you married one hot bastard."

"Oh my, Aa-chan!" Ayame says, leaning up against her shoulder and reading her phone screen, although _says_ is a misleading verb because Ayame never simply _says_ anything, he always declaims it in a very loud and carrying voice. "What's this, what's this? What can this be?"

"Your wife asked me to google it for her," Akito says without looking up or missing a beat, and Ayame laughs.

"I admire your brilliant and quick sense of humor! I'm sure you and Gure-san must always have such wonderful battles of wit! But," he adds, gently pushing her hands down to her lap, "I think you needn't fear on that front. I know my dear Gure-san like I know my own heart, and he only has eyes for you."

Akito makes a noise that is part not-actually-agreeing with Ayame, and part trying to appease him to make him go away, and part objecting to the fact that the edges of her personal space bubble are now apparently inside Ayame's body.

It's not exactly that Akito doesn't trust her husband. It's more that Shigure is an asshole, and Akito knows this because she's also an asshole, and she doesn't trust anyone and that includes herself. And it takes much less brain engagement to skim through the trash her google search is giving her than to actually consider who gave Shigure the kiss he "won."

She's not fretting about who her husband might be doing what with, she's...she's marveling at the depths of the stupidity of the internet.

"Auntie Aa-chan?" Chizuru says. Akito raises her head and looks at him. Turns off her phone screen when he pointedly looks down at it until she gives him her complete attention.

Chizuru shoves a fist at her. "This is a dinosaur fossil," he announces, opening his hand to show the small rock cupped in this palm. As far as Akito can tell, it's just your usual playground rock, a bit ridged but still boring.

Shigure would have enthused over it, eagerly discussed with Chizuru what type of dinosaur it might belong to, praised Chizuru for his skill and sharp eye. Put his novelist talent and wild imagination to good work.

"Uh-huh," Akito says.

Chizuru pushes the rock at her again. "It should go in a museum. But you can have it. For when I'm a famous--" there's a long string of syllables here that Akito can neither parse nor reproduce, but from the context she later realizes it's _paleontologist_ "--and I dig up a lot of dinosaurs and I'm rich and I'm even more famous than my dad."

Ayame chuckles and says that he can't wait for that day, and he looks forward to seeing his son's picture all over TV, and Akito says: "Okay. Er. Thanks."

–

"This is for Shiki's college fund, apparently," Akito says, plopping the rock into Shigure's hand.

"That's one worry solved, then." Shigure crouches down and offers the rock up to Shiki. "Kiddo, any thoughts on where we should display our prize fossil?"

Shiki looks at it, hard, for a long moment, and then quietly takes the rock from his dad and wanders off, trying the rock out on various shelves.

Akito crosses her arms glowers at the fridge. "Well?" she says. "That was my half of the bet. What valuable thing did _you_ get today?"

"Weeeeeell," Shigure says, "I _would_ have presented you with quite a small fortune in checks...but, I figured you'd rather I just do the bank run to deposit them myself and spare you the trip. So, you'll just have to content yourself with this."

And once again, he leans in and kisses Akito's cheek.

–

This park inconsiderately doesn't have any good weeds.

So Akito's having to make do with pinching a blade of grass between her nails and ripping it into tiny pieces, alternating between _my husband is a stupid perv_ and _my husband is not_.

She loses her place when Saki lays a hand on her shoulder and says, "Aa-chan, your waves are very distressed today."

That is bullshit. The wave report is bullshit. Akito's waves are not distressed. Akito is a grown-ass woman, sitting hunched on a park bench, intently ripping the shit out of an innocent blade of grass while mumbling to herself.

_Obviously_ she's not fine.

"It pains me to see you like this," Saki says, pressing a hand to her own chest. "And you're scaring the children."

Sure enough, when Akito looks up, there's Shiki across the playground watching her and biting his lip. She gives him a smile, although she's not sure how well it works. She's not good at the kind of stupid displays Shigure's always effortlessly spouting off. And Shiki might get his awkwardness all from Akito, but he's probably too young yet to get how alike they both are.

Saki says, "Do you know what I like to do to cheer myself up when I feel like this?"

–

Akito shoves the handful of receipts at Shigure, who laughs ruefully. "Oh, dear...the crepe stand opened up again, did they? And of course as head of the family it was your treat. Let me guess...these ones are all Saki's--I'll never figure out where that woman puts it all away--and these are Ayame's, and then there's one for each of the boys, and a second one for each of the boys after they all managed to drop theirs somehow…"

Apparently this is some sort of regular occurrence. _Another_ reason Akito doesn't do play dates. This sort of crap is best left to Shigure.

"I hope yours tasted good, at least?" he says.

Not wondering who's been kissing her husband would have tasted better. Akito hadn't really felt like bothering with her own, so she'd shared with Shiki, and that was actually how they'd ended up dropping the first one. But it had been kind of nice, even with Ayame and Saki there chattering away incessantly in the background.

Akito shrugs.

Waits.

"Well, it is the last day of our bet," Shigure says at last. "I suppose I'd better pay up, so we can decide the winner of whose job is more valuable."

Akito shrugs again, and Shigure leans in, once more, to press that damn kiss on her cheek.

"You know, I really wouldn't call your efforts a waste of time," Shigure breezes on immediately. "You got treated to a gourmet meal the likes of which you'll never taste again, you've gained another museum-quality antiquity to add to our estate, and you shared good food under good sunshine with good friends--"

Akito, very reasonably and not-at-all jealously, grabs Shigure's collar and yanks at him as she demands over his stupid rambling, " _Who gave you those kisses?_ "

Shigure blinks, and stares at her for a long moment. And then his face contorts with the effort of not smiling and laughing at her, which he fails to manage, and then he's snickering and taking her hands in his.

"Oh, you precious child," he chuckles. " _Think_ , why don't you. Those were the kisses _you_ gave me each morning before I went to start my duties."

Oh.

_Oh_.

Akito wriggles one of her fists out from under Shigure's hand so she can thump his chest with it.

"You _cheated!_ " she hisses. "That doesn't count, you cheated! You made this like, like a stupid plot in one of your novels, just to teach me some stupid sappy lesson, and _you cheated!_ "

Shigure tilts his head in a modest little nod, no shame at all. "Of course I cheated. Obviously I cheated. Honestly, I thought you'd catch me out on it. But I suppose in this regard I was, for once, wrong."

Ohh, that smug bastard. Akito hates him. Akito hates him so much. So much so that she burns with hate and definitely not anything else when he looks right into her eyes and smirks at her.

"I think we both win," he murmurs. "I think both of our jobs are very worthwhile, and together we make a very valuable family. And I treasure that. What about you?"

Akito doesn't give him an answer. She just tugs him down and kisses him on his stupid smug cheating bastard romance crap mouth.

(It was a trap all along. But she lets his arms close around her anyway.)


End file.
